As a result of the recalls and the difficulty that
investigators had determining what was causing the sticking
accelerator pedals in Toyota vehicles, new safety features are
currently being written that will apply to all vehicles starting in
the 2015 model year. More safety in vehicles is something that many
drivers will appreciate, but the cost of one of the biggest features
-- the
black box -- may add significantly to the price of a new
car.

Automotive
News reports
that the safety bill could
triple the cost of the data recording black boxes used in
vehicles today. Some estimates predict that if all the requirements
that the NHTSA are proposing make it to be written into law, the cost
of the black boxes could swell to $4,000 to $5,000 per unit. That
cost would be passed on to the consumer, directly adding to the cost
of new vehicles. The massive cost increase feared by automakers and
consumer associations is mainly attributed to the proposed
regulations that would make the data recorders in automobiles more
like those in aircraft with standards for water resistance, fire
resistance, and the amount of data the device can record.

Neil
De Koker, CEO of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association is,
"Any time you add complexity to the vehicle, you're adding a
level of cost that will remove a certain number of people that are
able to buy a new vehicle." He added, "For the person
that has that technology to make the event recorders, it's a great
business opportunity."

Data recorders are already in
about half the vehicles on the road according to estimates. The data
recorders currently in vehicles are connected to the airbag circuit
and can record about five seconds of data before a crash and a second
after. Regulators are expected to extend that recording time before
and after a crash, adding to the cost of the recorders.

Another
issue that will add cost is that many vehicles on the road
automatically disconnect the battery in an accident, which would mean
that the data recorders would need their own power source to continue
to record data.

Andy Whydell from TRW automotive Holdings Corp
said, "Within the current airbag control unit design, with some
limited modifications, current units could be adapted to meet water
resistance and mechanical crash requirements."

The
fire resistance standards would likely be the most costly of the new
proposed requirements. The box would have to gain bulk and would
require a redesign in where the box is mounted in the car. Whydell
said that a fire resistant recorder would probably be about the size
of a shoebox.

The fire resistance proposals are the least
likely to make it to the final law says Whydell. “The likelihood of
really needing this extreme fireproof requirement is one that may not
make financial sense for NHTSA,” Whydell said. He expects that in
the end the data records in vehicles today will only gain modest
updates to record more data and to record that data in a standardized
format.

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